Shadows of Impiltur

Well, it’s been a long couple of days since the Whisperer in the Deep. New Sarshel got some unexpected visitors in the shape of an entire Orc horde from the edge of the Grey Forrest. The orcs set up camp outside the gates and started working on siege ladders so they could punish the city for stealing Thelda, the chieftains daughter. However, before they could even make the final march on the city an elder green dragon popped up in the middle of camp and immediately started wreaking havoc! Suddenly, all the Ruiners arrived and started taking down the orc horde piece by piece. Raithe rode the dragon and scared the shit out of most of the orc horde at the same time worked on taking out the leadership by killing the Chief and the Warchief. Kage took out some grunts while getting into his own epic fight with the warlock of the army. Jin provided support to Raithe before being left alone to take on two Ogrillions at the same time. Lastly, Riven charged at the horde from the walls of New Sarshel and plowed through a group of grunts that were making their way towards the gates. The city guard took down some of the charging orcs and that left Riven the chance to take down an ogrillion himself. All in all, due mainly to the sudden attack of a green dragon, the hordes disbanded and scattered all throughout the plains and wooded areas outside the city.
After the battle/routing that lasted all of one minute, the Ruiners were welcomed with open arms into the city by the city guard and Mayor Higgs. However, due to Jin taking on the appearance of Colburn Jennings, the Mayor and most of New Sarshel now believe the ruiners are his team and escorted them back to Colburns mansion. Soercia has a rather unpleasant visit from Kage and his arm, but in the end Raithe and Kage together killed the demon spawn that grew inside her to he betterment of all mankind.

For a myriad of reasons, the individual members of the Ruiners each found themselves beneath the streets of New Sarshel. The foul smelling sewers seem like a horrible place for a reunion, but it seems fate may have had a hand in pulling them together. Good thing too, there are dark things stirring within the foulness.

Seems a spell-scarred abolith had taken up residence in the place where the sewers of the city run into the Underdark. His mad whispering had seeped upwards and started infecting the sanity of the city dwellers. The citizens on the lower levels were hit the hardest. In their madness, they committed some of the most heinous crimes and murders. All in the name of chaos. The abolith wanted nothing more than for order to give way to anarchy for no other reason than he could make it happen.

Luckily, the Ruiners found out what was going on and worked together to put a stop to it, despite some in fighting and trying to tune out the salacious voices in their heads. While Jin was singing words of encouragement, Riven was sly flourishing his heart out, Kage was breaching walls and launching magic missiles, Greyson controlled the battlefield, Shivra created chain reaction murders, and Raythe did his best to make sure the abolith lived a lot shorter time than expected. In all, the Ruiners made mince meat out of the mad group of spell-plagued freaks and made for the light as quick as they could. Stopping to search the dead and rubbish for treasure, of course.

The Ruiners have done it again! They have forever ruined the life of one Mr. Colburn Jennings and a bunch of his friends and servants.
After taking their anger out on Razreal and his retinue, the Ruiners talked with Tarnim VonTrapp who told them about being blackmailed by Colburn by keeping his daughter hostage. With Tarnim’s help, the group broke into the Jennings estate basement armed with “Shamina Shami”, the secret password that allowed them to walk right past the Gnaw demons. However, very quickly, due to the playful antics of Greyson, they were all up to their necks in demon on human pain. Surprisingly, the group was able to fight off a titled demon and his group of Gnaw demons without all the way dying. Not to say some of them didn’t get kinda close…<ahem> Shrivra, Kage. They rescued Tarnim’s daughter and the happy family ran away safe and sound.
Next came the infiltration of the mansion itself. Even with a strong skunk smell wafting from Riven, disguised as Dead Guard #2, the group was able to enter the house unnoticed as enemies. That was the best thing that could have happened for the Ruiners, but the absolute worst thing that could have happened to Colburn. Right after giving Jin, disguised as Razreal, a verbal lashing, Colburn met his doom in less than six seconds thanks to the combined efforts of Raythe, Kage, and Greyson. He almost never saw it coming… After the swift kill, the team decided to raid the house for all it was worth. They found some interesting magical items, Soersia Jennings, Razreal’s ritual book, some money, and an evil demon possessed mirror.
The Ruiners thought that they would see what else Colburn had to offer, so they checked out the other half of the basement. Kage, however, thought he would keep some of the servants company in the only way that Kage can… The rest found a secret ritual room in which a demon was, very unwillingly, giving his blood up to evil ritualists. Raythe lead the attack and Jin convinced the demon not to hurt the Ruiners, but that the black robed ritualist were the bad guys. It worked, even some of the ritualists were willing to sacrifice themselves due to some crafty words by Riven. After that room, they found a rickety bridge over s boiling tar pit. Yuck!! A heavily trapped door awaited them on the other side and it took Riven and Raythe to crack it. A group of Plague Demons hid in he dark on the other side of that door. Exhausted but excited for possible treasure, the Ruiners ripped into the hapless demons and did pretty well, despite the Abyssal Plague that dripped off of their swords and teeth <ahem> Jin.
Leaving the mansion, the team went their separate ways. Raythe went to the Thieve’s Guild and told them the news of Colburn, but sensed a disturbance in the Force as everyones attitude changed quicker that a daytime stripper picking up her kids from school. Shivra and Jin, went to get the disease removed from the Temple of Bane and received a quest to destroy a certain halfling in Watertown. Lastly, Riven, Greyson and Kage got some disturbing news from Turin Lesh. Renkirk has gone missing and may have murdered a prominent noble in Old Sarshel. Hopefully, they can find him and save him from himself.

This day started like any other, with Riven having a great idea to help tear down the Fraternity of Thoros even further, and ended with a bunch of dead bodies. Riven, Raythe and Jin found out through diplomatic interrogation that Lord Zannon, the mastermind behind the masquerade massacre, was meeting up with the High Priest of the Fraternity of Thoros the next night to account for failure of success. They enlist the help of Kage and Greyson to make sure that this baddy goes down. However, the lack of time leant itself to a lack of planning and the whole thing ended up in a grand melee.

Kage showed some new skills as he practiced a form of sword magic that hasn’t been seen since Sword Mages themselves. Although, Kage’s style is much more subtile than that of sword mages. Jin showed that he/she has real balls in the face of impending and almost certain danger, basically throwing a kill order back in the face of Razrael of the Fraternity. Raythe showed that even with the odds stacked against him, he is still one bad ass stealthy mother fucker. Pretty much, he was able to breach the defenses of Lord Jennings by stealth alone. Riven played the dutiful bodyguard to Jin and switched into stealthy stab mode, getting a stab in whenever anyone attacked him. Greyson turned up a little late due to some business in town, but got right in on the action before the first attacks were even done. Due to some quick thinking on Greyson’s and Raythe’s part, Razrael was not able to escape while in gaseous form. Great job by all!

Now, the group is face with a dilemma, what do they do with the knowledge they just gained from Tarnim VonTrapp. Now they know that Colburn Jennings is a high up official in the Fraternity and that he is using Tarnim to do his nefarious bidding by keeping his daughter captive. Also, what to do about all the demons that supposedly reside within the fortified mansion. These questions will be solved next session.

Mayor of New Sarshel, Bolson Higgs, threw a masquerade for his eldest daughter’s 16th birthday. Val Higgs wasn’t the only one excited to see midnight that night, a few of the Fraternity of Thoros found their way to the party as well.

Yep, Jin and Turin Lesh caught wind of a nefarious plot by the Fraternity to unleash a hoard of demons on the upper crust of New Sarshel at midnight. Luckily, Turin has a crackpot group of super sleuths that could sniff out the plot to kill everyone and take care of it quietly and without harm to anyone. Sadly, they were out of town visiting family, so he called in The Ruiners for help in sorting things out.

Turin, accompanied by Renkirk, Jin, Riven, Raithe, and Shivra, walked into the party and met the gregarious mayor, his blushing daughter, and his rather beautiful elven wife Lyanna. Raithe was like a shadow, Jin gathered info by talking with people, Riven watched peoples intentions, and Shivra made it her goal to stick to young Val and make sure no harm comes to her. However, she was sidetracked for a bit by a little attempt at sucky sucky. However, due to Shivra’s intensity and Raithe’s mind fuck, Lord Behroun was left with out a quick bite and retired to his castle.

Just a couple minutes to midnight, the intrepid crew found out who the Fraternity members were in time to kill them all and disrupt the party for everyone. Better luck at your seventeenth birthday party Val! Lord Zannan was exposed as a member by Riven and his men-at-arms and four stooges died horribly due to a Shivra and a Raithe. Maybe they should look into teaming up and killing some people for money. They are good at it…

In other new, Lady Mythburn was arrested in a most public way and charged with tax evasion and both Turin Lesh and Colburn Jennings have bad constitutions when it comes to long parties. This one did them in in about an hour and a half. The Sons of Pelor, lead by the rightous Cardinal Krozan, are marching on the orc horde that is advancing on the coast. :-)

It took a rat, or rather a Greyson dressed as a rat, to eventually find the door to the catacombs of the Jennings household from outside the fortified walls of his impressive manse. In order to sneak in unnoticed, Raythe and Jin created two completely different distractions to keep the somewhat alert guards at bay. Sadly, this did eventually end up in an altercation between one of the guards Raythe coaxed off the wall and Jin, who was dressed like a homeless person.

After getting the door open, Greyson-rat, Raythe, Kage, and Riven made their way down the dark corridor into trap after trap of terribleness. Well, to be honest, the crack team of The Ruiners seemed to have no problem combating and disabling the well planned traps of the Jennings family. Raythe and Kage made sure that each and every crypt was disturbed and broken into. Sseth was so proud.

Eventually, Riven and Kage figured out the secret of the subterranean trees and the holographic wall to find where the scroll was hidden. In the end, Greyson, Riven, Kage, Jin, and Raythe worked together to steal the the scroll from Colburn for Draven and the Guild and they have a decision to make as to whether or not to enter. Tough choice for some since it may mean a loss of independence, but tempered with the backing of untold resources and connections. Decisions, decisions…

“The Ruiners” as they are calling themselves now, certainly lived up to their name this time! Leaving in their wake scorched earth, dead circus performers, unsatisfied customers, and a hungry dragon on the loose. Oh, and I almost forgot about the forced separation of Grog and his beloved Thelda. Maybe the heart will grow fonder as time goes on, or maybe it will fester like a cancer. Time will tell…
Turin Lesh paid The Ruiners to take care of Pohr the Satyr of Pohr’s Traveling Circus fame. Also, they needed to kidnap Thelda, one half of the famous orc act The FantastOrcs. Raythe, Kage, Jin, and Riven took up the call and traveled north to the town of Tarviston, where the circus was camped. The plan was simple, there was no plan. Each one of them infiltrated the circus in different ways, Riven was interested in the Wagons, Kage had a fascination with the green dragon, Jin had an obsession with Pohr, and Raythe couldn’t care less.
It all sort of went to hell when Raythe did a pretty good job coming out of the shadows to kill Pohr behind some curtains in the Big Top, but the satyr didn’t go down as easily as expected and a grand melee occurred. In the end, Pohr died, dwarves died, elves died, dragon was loosed, Grog divorced, and a whole lotta fire! Interestingly, word around town is that The Fraternity of Thoros took revenge upon Pohr for something and used some demon-worshippers to bring the whole thing down. There’s also a rumor about an infiltration of drow elves since they are being spotted everywhere along Impiltir’s coast.
Greyson went south to find a gambling tournament and did pretty well. D20 roll pending…

Today was a momentous day for two reasons. The murder trial of Thomas Theil was held at the same time the Sons of Pelor marched into the den of evil that was the Fraternity of Thoros.

First, Riven and Jin lead a troupe of the Sons of Pelor sub-commanded by Cardinal Krozen. They swept in from the rear, which is how Krozen likes it, and pounded the Fraternity hard from behind. At first there was some resistance, but as soon as the group cleared the opening, they were able to go all the way in. Riven rushed down a hall that sounded like some summoning was going on and dispatched two ritualists in time to stop the demon from being summoned. VERY lucky for them. Krozen and his group were able to rescue some slave girls and a family of servants while Jin and Riven took three prisoners. Honored Waldros Blaise was extremely pleased at the outcome and let the group keep what gold and items they found before the destruction of the underground hideout of the Fraternity.

Greyson and Raythe decided to not show their undeadness next to the Sons of Pelor, so they took in a slightly more tame murder trial. It turned out that Wise Vargus Mason had a special candle that was able to decern truth from any well crafted lie. He used it to great effect, finding out that most of the witnesses for Thomas were paid for by Frederick Theil in order to set his father free. It turns out that Thomas went free anyway, having no proof that he killed his longtime friend Gowan, the Dwarf, however, the lying citizens and Frederick all went to jail for purgery and had fines to pay off.

Later that night, Raythe, Greyson, and Jin found their way to Saxon Mythburn’s mansion in time to find some trouble in the way of impersonating the help, stealing secrets, and planting evidence of adultery. Also, on a completely related note, if anyone knows a good housekeeper, Saxon and Georgetta are looking for help and is tired of agency sent women. They never seem to last…

Kage was laying low for this adventure do to some very popular rumors regarding dark elves and evil killing machines…

When Turin Lesh heard that Faidor the Red was going to be docking into New Sarshel in a few days he immediately assembled his runners for a quick mission. Faidor had a key around his neck that could open a magical strongbox buried in the Graveyard on the Cliffs. Renkirk was excited to be part of the group this time since only Jin, Kage, and Greyson were able to show up.

Immediately, the group made a decision to try and steal the key off of Faidor while he slept after having his whore give him the sleeping elixir they’ve used in the past. Kage was a little reluctant to take part in this part of the mission since it would involve him performing in a threesome. Things were going smoothly until the potion didn’t have the desired effect and Kage took matters into his own hand, or fist as it happened. A fierce fight broke out in the suite at the top of the stairs as Faidor fought for his life and Kage and Greyson also fought for his life. Jin was downstairs making sure all the crew members stayed otherwise occupied and couldn’t help their captain.

Eventually, the fight ended with the team acquiring the key and heading up to the cliffs overlooking the Sea of Fallen Stars. Not long after finding Xalta’s gave and starting to dig up the strongbox, they were startled to find the spirit of Xalta still roamed the area and didn’t take kindly to the intrusion. A long and mostly frustrating fight took place as the gang tried to decide the best way to destroy a ghost. Kage had some Ghostebane powder he put on his blade, but it didn’t work as well as he thought it would. Greyson and Renkirk went down a couple times, but finally the fight was won as Kage delivered the final blow and Jin administered much needed aid to the rest of the group.

Rivan missed this mission due to Court maneuverings. Raythe was occupied with the local flavoring in New Sarshel.

After a couple weeks of bounty hunting, performing, and badgering the incarcerated, Jin got word from a street performing friend, Beatrice, that her niece got kidnapped. Jin, the skillful bargainer that he is, worked out a deal with her to be told of the goings on at the Oaken Spoon as well as a few gold pieces.

Rivan, Jin, Kage, and Raythe found out that Bella was kidnapped by demon worshippers from the Fraternity of Thoros and that she would be sacrificed at the full moon in one day. Without a second spent guessing they went to find the location of the prisioners. They talked with a mysterious old woman who is more afraid of demons than she needs to be and the parents of Bella to glean information. Eventually, they located the back door to the demon-worshipers hideout.

Raythe got to show off his mad compusion powers, Jin in vicious mocking, Riven’s quick work with a concealed dagger, and Kage got to be in peoples way. Seems the fates weren’t with Kage during that fight, but he’s still a promising up and comer. In the end, the bad guys 0, the questionable moral guys 7. The innocence of three little girls was spared and the wrath of demons may have been incurred.

Greyson was absent from this session due to an indescribable need to mock living people. Jerk.